Make in India: Not Spain, Gujarat facility to build C-295 for Indian Air Force now

New Delhi, Oct 27: In a big boost to the Modi government's 'Make in India' push, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar on Thursday announced that the C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be manufactured by Tata-Airbus at Vadodara in Gujarat.

A consortium of Airbus and the Tata group will manufacture C-295 transport aircraft for the IAF in Vadodara in Gujarat, the Defence ministry said on Thursday, announcing the Rs 22,000 crore project where a military plane will be produced in India for the first time by a private company.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing plant in Vadodara, Gujarat on October 30, in what is billed as a major boost to the domestic aerospace sector.

''Apart from making 40 aircraft, this facility at Vadodara in Gujarat would be manufacturing additional aircraft for Air Force requirements and exports,'' ANI reported quoting Defence Secretary.

''96% of the work that Airbus does in its facility in Spain would be done in the Indian facility. Electronic warfare suite for the aircraft would be done by public sector BEL,'' Defence Ministry officials said.

''This would be having one of the highest indigenous content. The aircraft built in India would be supplied from 2026 to 2031. The first 16 aircraft will come between 2023 to 2025,'' Ajay Kumar noted.

C-295 fleet to replace IAF's Avros

Last year in September, nearly Rs 21,000 crore deal was sealed by India with Airbus Defence and Space to procure 56 C295 transport aircraft to replace the ageing Avro-748 planes of the IAF under a project that entails manufacturing of military aircraft in India for the first time by a private company. The approval for the ambitious programme was given by the Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA).

Under the agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in 'fly-away' condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain within four years and the subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies as reported by news agency PTI.

In was at a ceremony held on the sidelines of DefExpo in Gandhinagar, when a certificate of approval was handed over by Director General of DGAQA Sanjay Chawla to Kajetan von Mentzingen, Head of Quality of Airbus Defence and Space.

The Airbus C-295 was previously called the EADS CASA C-295. A Spanish company named CASA designed test medium practical transport aircraft in the 1990s. When CASA company was incorporated into the European aeronautical group EADS in 2001, the aircraft was renamed EADS CASA C-295. The first flight of this aircraft took place on 28th November 1997. This aircraft is far superior to the HS 748 Avro aircraft. The Spanish force enlisted this aircraft in service in the year 2001.

About C295 aircraft: Most versatile and efficient tactical transport aircraft

The Airbus C295 is a new-generation tactical airlifter in the light and medium segment. According to European aviation major Airbus, it is robust and reliable but also highly versatile in terms of the number of different missions it can perform. The C295 conducts multi-role operations worldwide under all weather conditions. It is fully certified and routinely operates day and night in combat missions in all weather extremes, from desert to maritime environments, from extremely hot to extremely cold temperatures.

C295 variants
High versatility, many variants, multiple missions, one aircraft. Most of the different variants can easily be re-configured to a transport version and back, due to the palletised modular mission systems.